An Unrivalled Match: Customer Service & Field Service Lightning

Let’s face it: providing an outstanding customer service is no longer a lofty aspiration, but a necessity in today’s competitive market. And in order to offer a flawless service from start to finish, carrying out and perfecting the following processes needs to become second nature to you.

Making all information about a prospect or patron easily accessible

Calling a customer to pre-emptively inform them of a problem that needs fixing

Scheduling an appointment in a few simple clicks

Sending out a field service technician who arrives on time, is prepared for the job, and immediately notifies the customer upon completion.

Now, you may try to abide by these four keys, but be honest – you’re probably falling short somewhere. But before you start blaming your employees, let’s evaluate the most common root of this problem: a lack of system automation. Even in the current era of digital transformation, a whopping 52% of businesses’ field service processes are still manual, often resulting in a disorganised workforce, slow reaction times, and a frustrated customer base.

Hit Your Stride with Salesforce

Along with dissatisfied customers, chances are that your staff is equally disgruntled. From industry leaders to field service technicians, two of the biggest complaints in the industry currently revolve around (1) being unable to see all of the information that’s required to make an informed decision and (2) using tools/systems that are too slow. If you can relate to these struggles, not to worry: the solution is near!

For transparent communication among employees and an immaculate experience for your buyers, automating your workflow with Salesforce’s Field Service Lightning is a smart and simple solution. Crew scheduling, appointment and return order management, you name it: this tool has got you covered, offering an easy-to-use and fully mobile platform that provides a complete overview of each and every customer. To find out more about the industry problems it resolves and its newest features, why not browse through our blog?

Field Service Lightning in Action

Imagine that you’re a commercial air conditioning manufacturer, and that one of your biggest clients is planning an important event during the peak of summer. Naturally, the air conditioning breaks down the day before, which could lead to the cancellation of the event. Let’s take a close look at how you could resolve the problem with Field Service Lightning.

1. Proactive Problem Solving

Your customer service team finds out about the issue via the CRM’s agent console, which received data directly from the broken air conditioning unit. Yes, you read that correctly – the customer didn’t even have to ring you! Instead, one of your representatives calls them first, equipped with all of the necessary information about the case and customer. The representative sets up the job in the system, along with sending the client a link to the online appointment system. There’s no need for your team to check who’s available to complete the task – it will be automatically allocated to a field service technician based on their location, skill set, and the customer’s schedule. Pretty handy, right?

2. Smart Scheduling

The client requests an urgent, same-day appointment, since the unit needs to be fixed in time for tomorrow’s event. Your representative sends the order to your dispatcher, who has an overview of all jobs, the allocated technicians, and their status. Upon checking the order, the dispatcher picks up on a problem: the task has been assigned to a field service technician who called in 5 minutes ago to report a flat tyre. To reassign the job, the dispatcher takes a quick look at the system’s map, which indicates who’s close by and available to take on the task. With a few clicks of the mouse, the repair is added to another technician’s schedule.

3. Finish the Job

The new field service technician receives a notification about the job on their smartphone, and swipes to take a closer look at it. All of the data that was available to the customer representative and the dispatcher is there, allowing for a 360-degree overview of the task and its requirements. As the technician arrives at the client’s site and fixes the air conditioning unit, the dispatcher tracks the progress, watching the status transition from “in progress” to “complete.” The technician signs off on the job with a mobile signature before driving off to start the next one, and the customer receives a notification that the air conditioning has been fixed. Sorted!

And voilà: that’s a job done right from beginning to end. The big event is saved and the client is happy, especially because they didn’t have to lift a finger to resolve the problem. So, while you may have thought that achieving this standard of work was impossible before reading this article, think again…and don’t hesitate to contact our team of expert consultants to find out more! Discover how Field Service Lightning can benefit your business today.